Hi fellows can somebody tell me how easy it is or hard to change the rear valve cover gasket the one next to the fire wall. Please tell me from 1 to 10 how easy or hard it is. on a maxima 94 VE Thank you John A.

 

The first time I did it, I hadnt built up much experience yet, but managed to accomplish.

The hardest part is dealing with all those old hoses. The way I would do it now is just cut most of them and replace later during assembly, they are cheap and sell by the foot.

Remove intake
Disconnect hoses
Undo lower EGR nut (hard to reach, but not impossible)
Get coils out, remove throttle cables, grounds
Unbolt little metal frame under the throttle
Unbolt rear brackets
Unbolt front plenum bolts, and lift it all out

The actual gasket job is easy from there, cover off, clean up, reinstall.

Some people might remove the throttle instead of lifting it off with the plenum, thats another way, I've always just kept it there.

 

What Mike said.

first time, plan a day to do it.
second time, plan 2-3 hrs.

 

Of course you have to remove your intake manifold and disconnect the EGR tube. Once you have everything off, then the valve cover gasket is REALLY easy to replace. Just make sure you follow the Factory Service Manual and apply RTV on the correct parts of the valve cover gasket.

Also, this will be a perfect time to install phenolic intake spacers.

If you can remove your intake manifold, then you can definitely replace your VC gasket. I can't rate it between 1 and 10 b/c it's all relative based on your mechanical skill.

For me, I'd consider the job about a 3 out of 10, with 10 being an automatic tranny rebuild or building the car from the ground up. 1 will be an oil change or tire rotation. 2 will be a brake pad replacement. 3 will be an intake manifold removal just b/c you have to torque bolts to spec and check for intake leaks.

I'd get a Factory Service Manual if you plan on working on your car and doing jobs that you've never done before.

 

keep working on it and you'll get better at it.

 

does that imply that you have?

 

 

hey I'm John A!! you stole my name!! it should be alright as long as you have the right tools and at least a day if its your first time doing something like this with no prior experience. just keep browsing the org for info and look through the FSM so you're sure that you're doing everything right.

 

so....did you buy the gaskets you'll need for the job? I'm selling a gasket kit.......


Hey, just like Aaron we all gotta make a living.

 

If it's was meant to be a promotional post, then I would have simply mentioned my spacers instead of actually trying to answer the OP's question.

 

Thanks guys, i changed the front cover gasket, but now the rear gasket its leaking heavy in the rear right conner and i have alot of oil in the left conner spark plug hole, i dont have the intake manifold gasket do i have to change that ? what else has to be changed ? Thank you for all your responses.

 

Yeah it needs to be changed, but if you're in a hurry you could use RTV gasket maker on it instead. I'm assuming youre talking about the plenum gasket though, not the intake manifold gasket.

If you remove the throttle from the plenum, that gasket would need to be changed as well, but again... you could make it.

If your hoses are original, prepare to have spare hoses of different diameters for replacement, because they will crack/break during removal.

 

True that...sorry. Anyways, you'll definetally have to change those gaskets. RTV will work, but it's really not as good as getting an actual replacement gasket. Also since many of the gaskets in that area are paper gaskets, they're generally only one-time-use gaskets. So be sure to either REALLY try to preserve any gaskets on parts you need to remove, or have replacements on hand before you do the job. It's also good for preventative maintenence to change your other gaskets while all that stuff is off, since it's much harder to do while all the hoses, manifolds, and wires are in the way. Also, when you price out those gaskets at autozone and the dealer let me know how much they cost.